Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Short video of Charles doing his victory dance(he likes to do this when he wins something like on field day or whenever):

The family playing a game of "headbands"

Jane making some sort of something with the jenga blocks.

A friend called one day a couple of weeks ago and said something like, "just so you know your girls will be coming home (Elisabeth and Annabelle were over playing) with some black dots and ears we made for chick-fil-a day so if they say they want to go for dinner, that's why." If you dress up like a cow on this particular day you get a free meal. If you just wear a few black dots or sport some sort of cow accessory you get a free entree. All the kids got free meals and Scott and I got an entree each :).

We had a lot of leftover colored duct tape from Elisabeth's birthday party and she's been asking to make a duct tape wallet so we helped her and charles make one after the younger kids were in bed.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Have I mentioned before that we are so sad to leave all of our good friends in Utah? I talked about Elisa L. in another post because she's amazing and like a sister to me, but here we are again with her family after Benjamin's baby blessing.

Andrew and Charles are the same age and are good buddies.

And Annika and Annabelle are the same age. Can you tell they love each other? I hope they are college roommates at BYU someday :). We will all be staying at their house one night this week while we prepare to move. Thanks in advance! My kids have been talking about it non-stop!

Here is my good friend Lindsay and our kids.

We have ten between the two of us :). We did a babysitting swap for a year or so where her and Matt would go out while we watched kids and then the next month Scott and I would go out while they watched our kids. The children loved it and so did we. Lindsay has also taken our family pictures for years and I got to do a few birthday cakes for her family. Lindsay is also about the most patient, loving person I know. And she has five young kids so that's pretty impressive. Even though she's younger than me, I totally look up to her.

The Wilcoxes have been our next door neighbors and good friends for these past 6 years. Maren and I have gone on a lot of walks together, we've done lots of play dates, book club, zumba, healthy food cooking and sharing of recipes and more recently we've had lots of family game nights together. Their son Brigham and Charles are best buds. And Brian was just called as our bishop! They are a good family who we will miss dearly.

Amanda and Aaron are also our neighbors and good friends and we do game nights with them as well. Let me clarify: there are three families that do game nights together, Wilcoxes, Smiths and Hansens, and we rotate having game night at our homes on about a monthly basis. It worked out perfectly because the Hansens have girls our girls ages, and the Wilcoxes have boys that Charles likes to play with so everyone had a good friend and of course Scott and I love Amanda and Aaron and Maren and Brian so it worked out great. Another amazing family.

Gina is my longest-standing Utah friend. We met when our families lived in the Wymount student family housing 9 years ago. She got me into cake decorating and we took some cake classes together at craft stores. I didn't get a picture of her kids but she has 5 also and is pregnant with her sixth. Our children love each other and so do we.

I've mentioned Kim Scott before as well, and here are some pictures with her family. We had dinner and games over there recently and here are some pictures with our evening together.

My kids slept over at her house the night Scott, Nora and I were in Colorado and the younger girls really bonded with some of their older kids like Brittany in the picture below.

Ethan is a year younger than charles and they are good buds.

Zach was making Jane laugh so hard we were afraid she was going to choke (she was eating).

Me and Kim! Love this lady!

I tried to get a normal-ish picture of the guys who were all sitting around the table together.

But that didn't happen. This is the closest to normal I got.

Ha! And I thought Scott was bad when it came to taking pictures!

Abby and Elisabeth have been friends since nursery. They are BFF's; they even have necklaces that say so :).

I've talked about several people and families in this post and in previous posts but we really have so, so many people we love in this area that it would be impossible for me to name them all and get pictures with everyone. I am so, so, so grateful for our time in this area. I am so grateful and blessed to have known the people I have known. I have learned A LOT by watching their examples. I really do feel like where we live is mostly about the people around us; who we can lift and help and change and who can lift, and help and change us. I know Colorado will be wonderful and filled with wonderful people just as Utah was wonderful.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Ten years ago today, Scott and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Washington D.C. temple. We have been married for a decade! That is so cool! And I feel so happy and blessed to be able to spend forever together with Scott. I have a hard time finding the right words to express what Scott means to me. Maybe it would be better to paint you a picture of our relationship through a few personal stories. How about ten short stories/examples since we're celebrating ten years of marriage.

2013

Story number one: About 9 1/2 years ago I was pregnant with Elisabeth and very, very sick. We lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment (it was the back of a home) that had a tiny kitchen, a tiny bathroom and one bedroom. The only doors were the front door and the door to the bathroom. Scott and I were both attending BYU and working and when we would get home I would crash on the bed and try to go to sleep and not throw up anymore (I usually did each morning and during the day sometime). Scott would make us dinner, wake me up so I would eat something, and then he would go into the bathroom, shut the door and do his homework on the seat of the toilet so he wouldn't disturb me and get me throwing up again. He did this for months.

Story number two: Every Sunday we go to church. Our family all sits together for about an hour and 15 minutes on a pew or bench while we listen to speakers and have the sacrament. Every Sunday Scott sits by my side. This may seem insignificant but you must remember that we have five young children, all of which want to be sitting by our sides or on top of us. But he holds his ground and will not let anyone sit in between us. So we usually have a baby on each lap(1-year-old Nora and three-year-old Jane), a child on each of our sides, another sitting close enough to touch while Scott and I hold hands or just sit close. Sometimes it may be easier to have kids divided in between us to keep them from bothering one another but I'm glad and flattered that Scott wants to have me by his side.

2012

Story number three: The children like to follow me around the house and just be wherever I am. Scott and I are the same way but with each other :). When he's home from work we're always together. If there are projects to do we usually do them together rather than dividing and conquering. We just enjoy being together. And I'd like to add that he and I are very respectful of one another. We talk kindly to one another and use kind voices. And it's not that we never disagree on anything, but when we do, we talk things through in a loving and respectful way.

2011

Story number four: Because of the stage of life we're in right now with five young kids, Scott and I don't get out on dates very often and rarely get to go to the temple together. We still go to the temple regularly, but usually alone. The one exception to this is our annual trip to do sealings at the temple on our anniversary. We love doing this. We love being there together, remembering the covenants we made with each other and with God all those years ago. We end up looking into each others eyes most of the time and smiling and people think we're newly weds :). We've had people ask us afterwards :).

2010

Story number five: Scott and I talk a lot. We are best friends. And because we talk a lot and spend a lot of time together we tend to think in very similar ways. Over the past year or two, I've noticed even more how much our thinking is alike. There have been so many times recently when he has said something, sometimes randomly, and I'll say to him, "I was just thinking that very thing, " or, "I was just going to say that!" I guess just as the scriptures say, we're becoming more as 'one'. And I assume every year it'll just get worse :), or better, however you look at it.

2009

I don't have any pictures saved on my computer from the year 2004-2008 so that's pretty lame. That was my pre-digital-camera years. So any pictures I have before 2008 I guess I'll have to scan or see if I can find an old cd lying around somewhere with the prints on them. Here are some pictures I scanned from our wedding:

2003

Story number six: Scott works during the day and when he gets home the house is busy and loud and we're trying to get dinner on and baths done and children in bed etc. So once the kids are in bed Scott and I get to read something of a religious nature together and then we talk about it and also talk about anything.This has helped us to grow closer spiritually, mentally and emotionally. We love our nightly talk times. It's kind of our way to unwind.

Story number seven: when Scott gets home from work we're all so excited and the kids rush to the garage door to meet him and he gives them big hugs and kisses, usually picks up one of the little ones and then comes over to me (I'm usually finishing up dinner) and gives me a kiss. And the older kids say, 'ew' and 'gross' and cover their eyes and the younger ones watch and smile :). And sometimes Jane will say to Scott, "I want to kiss you on da yips (translation: the lips)" and he'll giver her a kiss on the cheek and say something like, "no, my lips are just for mommy."

Story number eight: I've gotta share one more pregnant story because he just does SO much for me and the whole family when I'm pregnant. When I was pregnant with Jane, so baby number four, I was really, really sick for awhile and was throwing up a lot and didn't have energy to do anything at all. Scott would come home after a long day at work and the house would be a disaster. Kids had tried to get food out of cabinets themselves and there would be spills and messes everywhere, toys everywhere, clothes everywhere and on top of that, there was no sign of dinner and I was laying in bed or on the couch feeling awful. Scott would just come in, set down his bag and get to work. He'd clean, he'd play with the kids, he'd make dinner and come check on me. That stage of pregnancy certainly makes me grateful that the Lord has blessed me with normally very good health and an active body, and a personality that is on top of things. That stage of life also makes me extremely grateful for Scott and his love and care for me.

Story number nine: For many years Scott has been in callings in the church that has required him to be away from the home for more than just Sunday. Many times he would have meetings before church which meant I needed to get the kids dressed and ready so we could make it to church on time. I am grateful that he has had the opportunity to serve the Lord in various callings and I am always happy to support him. This past year I was put in a more demanding calling and Scott was the one who now needed to watch kids during my meetings and get all five fed, dressed and ready for 9am church on Sunday. He even put the girls hair in pigtails! I was and still am impressed by all he can do and all that he does do so cheerfully. I love when he brings the children into church and they all come and sit by me and he leans over with a smile and whispers, "did you notice the pigtails?" or braids or whatever. I think he knows it's impressive :), and I love it!

Story number ten: The first time I met Scott I had just moved back to BYU to live with my old roommates from the Deseret Towers dorms though now we were living in the Elms apartments. Most of my roommates had stayed over the summer and gone to school and so they knew Scott because he had also moved into the Elms over the summer. Scott came over to our apartment and was talking to one of my roommates. I looked up and I remember seeing him standing there in the doorway. Even though I don't remember sparks flying or anything like that, he obviously left an impression if I can recall that moment we met, 11 years later. We were just acquaintances for the first few weeks because of our mutual friends. He would take me and my roommate Natalie to play soccer with him and some other people on Saturdays. He worked at Little Caesar's Pizza and would sometimes bring a pizza by on his way home(we had a lot of cute girls in my apartment so it's no surprise he would want to bring it to try and impress someone! :)). As time went by I started noticing little things about Scott that impressed me like how he would notice our garbage was full and take it out (wouldn't even ask), or if someone needed a ride somewhere he always offered to take them in his car. It was through these small acts of service and love that I realized that he was something special and this was the type of person I wanted to be with. My sister met him and thought he was just perfect for me too which definitely helped. Then when we got really serious I paid attention to the way he talked with and treated his siblings and parents. And that sealed the deal. He was so sweet and kind and loving to all of them. And he's the same way with us. I am such a lucky girl!

Pictures I scanned from the time we spent in Europe on our honeymoon

Ireland

experiencing some serious jet lag after our flight to England

France

On the train to Venice

Colosseum in Rome

And just for fun, here are some pictures of when we were dating and engaged:

Scott was skinny and I was definitely not :). I'm glad we've evened out over the years :).

Do you want to know what our song was? "You're the Inspiration" by Chicago. It's kind of an oldie, in fact, they recorded it the year after I was born, but we love it.

Below is a cake I made for Scott on his 22nd birthday. The first of many :). My roomies delivered it with me that morning and we sang "happy birthday".

Hi, I'm Elisa and this is my blog. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka Mormon), I've been happily married to my best friend for 12 years and together we have 5 wonderful children ages 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. I am grateful to be alive and I am grateful for all of our many blessings; three very important ones I've mentioned above.

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elisa.g.smith [at] gmail [dot] com

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Favorite Quotes

"Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." -President Gordon B. Hinckley(15th Latter Day Prophet) quoting Jenkin Loyd Jones

"In his strength I can do all things"-Alma 26:12"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." -Philippians 4:13

"Seemingly little lessons of love are observed by children as they silently absorb the examples of their parents. Let us make certain that our examples are worthy of emulation." -President Thomas S. Monson(Living Prophet)